“You don’t know how good you have of something until it’s gone,” O’Neill told News
More than a decade after their split, Shaquille O’Neal can be honest about the mistakes that led to his divorce from his ex-wife Shaunie Henderson.
“I’m an idiot,” the 50-year-old NBA icon told News in this week’s cover story. “You don’t know how good you have of something until it’s gone.”
In 2011, O’Neal and Henderson, now executive producers of the VH1 reality series Basketball Wife, divorced following reports of his affair.
“And guess what? It’s your fault,” he said of himself, “I lived the good life.” The pain of the failed marriage was exacerbated by the absence of their five children – Sharif, 22, Amira, 20, Shakir, 19, Meara, 15, and Miles, 25 – at home, a trauma that O’Neill says is a “loss of privilege to . .. having fun.”
At night he recalls how quiet it was in a house “full of noise and relatives”: “Second day. Third day.
Fourth day… forever. Silence begins to overwhelm you.”
However, O’Neal told News that he believed he had a second chance at marriage. “If it happens again, my next wife will say, ‘She’s beautiful!’ He’s the best!’ Because I have learned from my mistakes.” Despite his faults as a husband, O’Neill admits that he misses important moments in his children’s lives. Still, he has found peace in reconnecting and watching them continue their passion and education.
“I just feel at ease because they don’t hate me,” he said. “If they hate me, I may never have peace, but because we’re in a relationship and we’re cool, I have peace.”